Fifth Street Towers – Parking Garage Lighting
Address: 100 South Fifth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402
Overview:
Sometimes it takes an extra push to get the efficiency wheels turning. Fifth Street Towers parking garages in downtown Minneapolis had three incentives: the backing of their electricity provider, Xcel Energy—in the form of expert advice and a big rebate; a deadline; and, a low contractor bid. They knew the stars were aligned and that it was time to make a change.
The building manager felt that the light levels in the garages were fine, but also believed that the lighting system could be operating more efficiently. Thousands of parking garages across the country use high-intensity discharge lamps, including metal halide or high pressure sodium lamps, but the result is often ineffective and inefficient lighting. Xcel Energy recommended that Fifth Street Towers switch to high-intensity fluorescent (HIF) fixtures.
Recent improvements in fluorescent technology had made HIF lighting more attractive than high-intensity discharge lamps in parking garages for many reasons. Among the most important to the building owner were the lower operating cost, higher overall lumen or brightness output, and the more natural light color that the HIF fixtures produce. The final clincher was the Xcel Energy rebate. Xcel Energy offered a rebate of up to $85/fixture—up to 60 percent of project cost.
The building went ahead and converted 314 fixtures in two parking garages from metal halide and high pressure sodium to 2 and 3-lamp T8 fluorescent fixtures. The total cost was $46,000, and the Xcel Energy rebate came to $26,690.
The building manager says the new lights have reduced their energy use by more than 60 percent, which is significant given that these lights are on constantly. This will save Fifth Street Towers approximately $23,000 a year in electricity costs, which will pay them back the cost of their new lighting system in about one year.
The building manager also said that the rebate process was easy, the installation went well, and that the maintenance staff will not have to replace lamps anytime soon. And the light color the new HIF lamps produce improves the feel of the entire facility.
